Italy rebound in Turkey as France win

SECOND VICTORY: ‘He is a pure talent, and he loves to just play. You can see it. He feels the game,’ France coach Zinedine Zidane said of attacker Michael Olise

Italy on Monday crushed Turkey 4-1 in Bursa, Turkey, to drag themselves into contention in UEFA Nations League Group A1, as leaders France struck late to win 1-0 in Belgium.

In Brussels, both teams had wasted chances before Michael Olise scampered through the home defense after 88 minutes and drilled a shot inside the post.

“He is a pure talent, and he loves to just play. You can see it. He feels the game. I am pleased to be at his side,” France coach Zinedine Zidane told broadcaster TF1.

Italy’s Michael Kayode scores their third goal against Turkey during their UEFA Nations League Group A1 match in Bursa, Turkey, on Monday.

Photo: Reuters

Olise’s goal gave Zidane a second victory to start his long-awaited debut as France coach.

Roberto Mancini’s return to run Italy had ended in Roman jeers on Friday last week as Italy lost their opener at home to Belgium.

His team dazzled in the downpour in the first half in Turkey.

France’s Michael Olise celebrates the victory at the end of their UEFA Nations League Group A1 match against Belgium in Brussels on Monday.

Photo: AFP

“The players all put in an excellent performance today. It was a tough match, and we approached it in the right way, staying high up the pitch and playing aggressively throughout the game,” Mancini told Italian television at the final whistle.

The hosts quickly slid three goals behind with errors in their muddy goalmouth.

Twice Altay Bayindir struggled to reach low cross-shots from the right.

After nine minutes, the Celta Vigo goalkeeper scooped a drive from Pio Esposito round the post.

From the corner, Bursa-born fullback Zeki Celik, who plays for Juventus in Italy, swung wildly at a low near-post cross deflecting the ball to Alessandro Bastoni. The Inter center back lunged to fire into the roof of the net.

After 23 minutes, Bayindir flapped an identical cross-shot from Michael Kayode into the path of Lazio’s Davide Frattesi, who tucked the ball home.

Intricate Italian passing around the penalty area repeatedly found a player free on the right of box.

When Brentford’s Kayode again ran into that space, his shot for the near post eluded the plunging Bayindir.

Turkey gave the restless crowd hope in the 47th minute when Gianluigi Donnarumma was drawn to Oguz Aydin beyond the far post. He found Baris Yilmaz who gleefully drilled into an empty net.

The comeback lasted five minutes. Tottenham Hotspur’s Sandro Tonali, in space, hit the post, but Pio Esposito dived to nod home the rebound.

After the game the Inter striker’s thoughts turned to family.

“I dedicate today’s goal to my grandmother, who is going through a difficult time,” said Pio Esposito who was playing alongside older brother Sebastiano of Sassuolo who was making his Italy debut.

“Sharing the pitch with him was incredibly moving; I tried to support him before the match without putting too much pressure on him. Let’s hope we get to wear these colors together many more times,” he said.

Monday’s slick display may ease the pressure on Mancini, while piling it on his former Sampdoria clubmate and fellow ex-Italian international Vincenzo Montella.

Montella led Turkey to the quarter-finals at UEFA Euro 2024, but his side finished bottom of their group at the summer’s FIFA World Cup.

For their next match Italy tomorrow visit the Stade de France.

“We’ll try to recover our strength and be ready for the match in Paris,” Mancini told Italian media. “I’m confident. We’ve got plenty of young players who are fresh and ready.”

Zidane, who was without injured captain Kylian Mbappe, made nine changes from his opening win over Turkey, was thinking along the same lines.

“We need a rest now. We have done a lot of traveling and not much training or resting,” said Zidane, adding he was happy with his team.

“We were really good in every department. Against a really good Belgium side who made us suffer we held out, we played really well, and we were brave,” he added.